Berlin-based venture capital firm Auxxo has confirmed the first close of its latest fund, the Auxxo Female Catalyst Fund II, at €26 million. This figure places the new fund’s initial close more than a third higher than its predecessor, which launched with €19 million in 2021.
The European Investment Fund (EIF) has come on board as an anchor investor in the round, alongside Aurum Impact, Cherry Ventures, Speedinvest, and a number of European family offices, business angels, and startup founders.
Auxxo, established in 2019 by Bettine Schmitz and Dr Gesa Miczaika, remains committed to backing early-stage startups that include at least one female founder. The firm’s criteria stipulate that a female founder must hold at least 20% of the founding equity for a startup to be eligible for investment.
“We’re incredibly proud to be partnering with EIF and other inspiring LPs who understand that diversity drives returns,” said Bettine Schmitz, Co-founder and General Partner at Auxxo. “Our network is growing – not only in size but also in influence and effectiveness. The fact that more than half of our LPs are women is a clear sign that the industry is moving toward the future we’ve always envisioned.”
The firm’s leadership is rooted in experience. Before founding Auxxo, Schmitz worked as an investor at Axel Springer Plug & Play Accelerator. Dr Miczaika, meanwhile, was instrumental in the international growth of mobility company Blacklane and served as Vice President of the Board at the German Startup Association.
The Female Catalyst Fund II continues the mission of its forerunner, with a focus on identifying and nurturing strong female-led teams across Europe. Through targeted coaching, operational support, and an expansive VC network, the fund aims to unlock early potential in promising founders.
The new fund has already made three investments:
- Emidat, a company building climate data infrastructure for the construction sector
- Resolutiion, an AI-powered platform tackling the resolution of commercial legal disputes
- Stanhope.ai, a startup developing autonomous machine learning solutions using “Active Inference” principles derived from neuroscience
Speedinvest, one of the fund’s key LPs, expressed confidence in the team and their vision. “We’re proud to back Auxxo’s bold vision for a more inclusive and high-performing venture ecosystem. They’ve consistently shown that investing in female Founders isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s smart, strategic, and delivers results,” said Deepali Nangia, Partner at Speedinvest.
Auxxo’s model continues to centre around transparency, trust, and long-term collaboration with founders. “Our model has always been based on trust, transparency, and teamwork,” said Dr Gesa Miczaika, Co-founder and General Partner. “We bring the full force of our movement and our decades of combined experience into each of our portfolio companies. We look forward to building on the extraordinary momentum of Fund I and continuing to prove that female Founders are not just an investment opportunity – they are the future of European innovation.”
The EIF’s participation underscores institutional belief in Auxxo’s mission. “We’re glad to be continuing the drive for greater gender diversity in European venture capital alongside Auxxo. Diversity and financial return can go hand in hand and we look forward to this new fund making that a reality,” said Marjut Falkstedt, Chief Executive of the European Investment Fund.
With its second fund off to a strong start, Auxxo appears poised to deepen its role in reshaping Europe’s startup landscape, putting early capital and strategic backing into the hands of the region’s most promising female entrepreneurs.
